Dr. Kelly Brianne Mahaney, MD

I was extremely hesitant to even consider surgery for my child's Chiari Malformation/ Syringomyelia, as I had been told by so many that there are very few physicians in the country who can be trusted to be knowledgeable and trustworthy when it comes to decompression surgery, and none of the "experts" who made the list practiced in my state or would be covered by my insurance company if I traveled out of state. My little boy's symptoms grew increasingly worse, and 2 different people recommended that we check out Dr. Mahaney. We're so glad we did! She spent quite a bit of time with us explaining her recommendations and the care he would receive, and went out of her way to make us feel comfortable during such a scary time. I was impressed that she showed respect for our religious and cultural differences and went out of her way to accommodate us due to our concerns, even though it may not have been standard practice to do so. My son is now 2 years post suboccipital craniectomy and… duraplasty, and although we knew it would not be a "cure" and he may face more surgeries in the future, he has done incredibly well and had a huge reduction in the debilitating pain that he had before Dr. Mahaney operated on him. We greatly miss having her here in Virginia at UVA!

Dr Mahaney was a blessing to our family. She reviewed my daughter's records and found some red flags, then ordered CT and MRI. Sure enough her the new scans showed that my Daughter, who has Down Syndrome, needed to have her neck fused to keep her from damaging her spinal cord. She was in danger and we didn't even know how bad it was. I then watched Dr. Mahaney pour everything into keeping my daughter safe and healthy! Surgery was long but successful! Dr. Mahaney noticed comments and red flags that the previous Dr's. missed. Now she is watching our daughter, making sure that recovery is just has successful as surgery was! She kept us well informed and just LOVES kids. Dr. Mahaney made a difference in our daughters life. We are forever grateful. I highly recommend Dr. Mahaney! She is calm, confident, humble, patient and extremely educated.

she lacks skills or bedside manner so do her team

do not recommend

She was nice but did not seem to be confident in her diagnosis and proposed treatment.

My family member is a patient of Dr. Mahaney's and I have to say, in all of my years in the medical field, I have never seen such poor communication, poor bedside manner, lack of care coordination and overall abhorrent treatment of the patient and their family. The office staff are rude. The surgeons and staff will treat any patient as though they are a "drug seeker", regardless of their history (or lack thereof). The presentation of the surgical options and the poor detail in which they were discussed, was sickening. Immediately post-op, the surgeon entered the waiting room and asked where his family was. When we all looked at her and explained that we were his family, she stated "all of you?" As though we should apologize for being there and taking up her time. Sad when the staff on the nursing unit call her "the Ice Queen". After discharge to home, there was an obvious infection to the incision. Discharge instructions explicitly stated (and the RN verbalized at time of… discharge), if you notice any signs or symptoms of infection, contact the on-call neurosurgeon to discuss. He noticed increased, purulent drainage and called the physician, only to be told he could see his local ER or family physician. He did that and the site was infected, which I am 100% aware can happen. What made me so upset about this, was the lack of concern and support from the physician on the other end of the phone. The medical system is difficult enough to navigate (especially if you do not have medical knowledge) and having care such as the care that he received, certainly doesn't help matters. I have never felt such a level of disgust in my life. Even contact with the hospitals patient advocate led to another pony show of making you feel stupid and like YOU "misunderstood". If any of you are in the medical field, or are considering it as a career, please remember if not for the patients, you would not have a job (remember...I AM in the medical field). If you don't feel that you can treat the patient with respect, as an equal and give them the time that they need and deserve to understand things...leave their room and find someone who can. If you can't look past a request to have their pain better managed, say nothing and walk out of the room to find someone who can. If you are in patient advocacy at all, do your homework before calling and making excuses or telling "stories". The people you talk to may know more than you think and be able to see through your smoke screen.

She is fabulous! Very knowledgeable and very good at answering questions in a way that most people can understand. She comes up to check on my son, (who is in the NICU waiting for his next brain surgery) daily and is always very friendly and has a smile unlike many others in her department. She sometimes seems a little rushed but does take time to answer any questions I have. I feel like I can trust her with my sons care.